Friday, July 23, 2010

Obama Energy Policy Touts 'Prayer' in BP Spill Aftermath

by Thornhille Broome, TYDN Editor at Large
WASHINGTON -- (TYDN) In an about-face, the Obama administration announced the nation's newest energy policy here early Friday, an ambitious plan in which "prayer" is its foundation, TheYellowDailyNews has learned.

The move, in a bid to get Republicans to join him, was a dramatic concession from an Obama energy policy that had been based on a "hope" that there would be enough affordable energy for the nation's future without completely ruining the environment.

Obama aides, speaking to TheYellowDailyNews on condition of anonymity, said privately that the BP oil spill brought home to the president that his "Hope Policy" needed to be superseded by prayer.

"We can no longer just hope that our lack of an energy policy works out, we need to pray that it does," an Obama aide familiar with the president's thinking told TheYellowDailyNews on condition of anonymity.

Analysts, who cautioned that the plan might not survive a First Amendment analysis, said it was the most far-reaching energy plan to date following the government's policy of allowing nuclear power plants to store radioactive waste in concrete tombs next to oceans, rivers and neighborhoods.

Analysts contacted by TheYellowDailyNews also said that the "Prayer Plan," which won out over a "Cross-Your-Fingers Plan," comes as BP attempts to permanently seal the Deepwater Horizon well that has spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama, speaking to reporters here in the White House Rose Garden, acknowledged that he should have come forward with the "Prayer Plan" earlier. Still, he said, "I am announcing this just in time so we may all pray that the cap on the BP well holds."

To be sure, Obama said that, even if the new plan doesn't work, the Gulf Coast coastline, from Texas to Florida, could become an oil reserve and perhaps drive down the cost of oil while making America safer. "This could help us wean ourselves from foreign oil that funds terrorism," Obama said.

Later Friday, the president is expected to meet with Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader from Nevada, to brief the Democrat on the plan.

"I think we have the votes to get this sweeping plan adopted," Reid said in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews. "Some of the Democrats concerned about the separation of church and state, I think, will come around because of the wisdom of Obama's policy."

Still, some Republicans suggested the policy did not go far enough. Mitch McConnell, the GOP Senate majority leader from Kentucky, said he is whipping up his party to demand Obama put forth an even stronger energy plan, one based "on a hope and a prayer."